Gathering at St Peter's Church, Everton, to celebrate £1,000 a month being donated to tackle child poverty by the Muslim Society

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

A task force set up to tackle child poverty in Liverpool met to launch a new charity to help struggling city youngsters.

The ‘Together With Our Children’ foundation received a major boost at the launch in Everton yesterday – a £1,000 a month donation from a local mosque.

The commission, set up by Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson and chaired by former Unison regional secretary Frank Hont, held a special seminar at St Peter’s Church to discuss how to deal with the problem of poverty suffered by city children.

The inspiration to set up the charity came from the story of a city youngster known as Jack, who “was so hungry his mother found him peeling wallpaper off the wall to eat”.

The Liverpool Primary Heads Association and the Liverpool Muslim Society have also got on board and are now looking to recruit other faith groups to help the cause.

The Toxteth Al-Rahma mosque’s Leyla Maschjari said: “We will work with other faith groups because the charity we are giving isn’t just focused on Muslims, it’s for non-Muslims as well.

“In the Islamic concept charity begins at home, and Liverpool is home for us.”

Together With Our Children is also supported by the Liverpool Schools Parliament, the council, and seven-year-old Jack, who drew the logo for the charity – a knife and fork surrounding an empty plate.

Mr Hont said: “We really need to get together with our partners in the third sector, businesses and other groups who want to get involved in tackling poverty.”

The event was also attended by Mathew Reed, the chief executive of the Children’s Society.

Cabinet member for children’s services and education Cllr Jane Corbett, whose husband Henry is the vicar at St Peter’s church, said: “We are really pleased to have Mathew here to talk about what we can do to eradicate child poverty.”

For information on how to donate, visit www.lcvs.org.uk or text a donation on TWOC01 and £1 (or more) to 70070.